An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system is gated to acquire images at different phases of a physiological cycle such as the heartbeat. At each successive heart cycle a trigger actuates the acquisition of a continuous sequence of images, starting at a particular phase of the heart cycle and ending when the next heart cycle begins. Multiple triggers are used, each starting at a different phase of the heart cycle and each acquiring images at uniform temporal spacing. After the first trigger is used a sequence of images has been captured which are temporally evenly spaced over the heart cycle, and as successive triggers are used uniform temporal spacing is maintained as the heart cycle is filled in with additional images for replay of an image loop of phase re-ordered images at a high frame rate of display.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system comprising: a source of gating signals for a physiological periodic cycle, the source of gating signals comprising a physiological sensor; an ultrasonic image acquisition subsystem configured to provide a plurality of triggers based on the gating signals to acquire ultrasound images at predetermined phases of the periodic cycle; an image processor configured to process acquired ultrasound images; an image sequencer configured to prepare a live sequence of images for display in relative phase sequence; a display, which is responsive to the image processor and image sequencer, configured to display the live sequence of images over the periodic cycle; and wherein the image acquisition subsystem is configured to acquire, in response to the plurality of triggers, a continuous sequence of images during the periodic cycle, wherein each trigger of the plurality starts at a different predetermined phase of the periodic cycle such that a temporal offset between the plurality of triggers progressively decreases as more periodic cycles are imaged by the ultrasonic image acquisition system, and wherein the image sequencer prepares the live sequence of images at a frame rate that progressively increases as more periodic cycles are imaged by the ultrasonic image acquisition subsystem.
2. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of triggers comprises a first image acquisition trigger configured to cause image acquisition at a first phase of the periodic cycle and a second image acquisition trigger configured to cause image acquisition at a second phase of a periodic cycle.
3. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of claim 2 , wherein the second phase is temporally halfway between the acquisition of first and second images by the first image acquisition trigger.
4. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of claim 3 , wherein the plurality of triggers comprises a third image acquisition trigger configured to cause image acquisition at a third phase of the periodic cycle, wherein the third phase is temporally halfway between the acquisition of an image by the first image acquisition trigger and the acquisition of an image by the second image acquisition trigger.
5. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of claim 3 , wherein after image acquisition by the first trigger at a phase of the periodic cycle, the image acquisition subsystem is configured to cause a next trigger which starts at a following starting phase of an unused trigger.
6. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of claim 3 , wherein the image acquisition subsystem is further configured to process the plurality of triggers in that, following use of the first trigger, the image acquisition subsystem acquires a sequence of acquired images which are temporally evenly spaced over a periodic cycle.
7. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of claim 6 , wherein image acquisition subsystem is further configured to process the plurality of triggers in that, following use of successive triggers after the first trigger, the image acquisition subsystem acquires a sequence of acquired images which are temporally evenly spaced and more closely temporally spaced than the sequence of images acquired by the first trigger.
8. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of claim 1 , wherein a trigger of the plurality is adapted to cause the image acquisition subsystem to stop acquiring images in the continuous sequence of images following a gating signal of a next successive periodic cycle.
9. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the periodic cycle comprises a heart cycle and wherein the plurality of gating signals are received from an ECG electrode.
10. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the periodic cycle comprises a respiratory cycle.
11. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the display is further adapted to display a live sequence of images over a periodic cycle and to continuously replay the live sequence of images from beginning to end until stopped.
12. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the live sequence displayed by the display further comprises a sequence of acquired images which has been ordered by the image sequencer, wherein the display further displays a frame rate of the live sequence ordered by the image sequencer.
13. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of claim 12 , wherein the frame rate is displayed numerically, graphically, or by a color.
14. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of claim 1 , wherein all of the triggers start an acquisition sequence within one frame acquisition interval after a physiological gating signal.
15. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of claim 14 wherein all of the triggers start an acquisition sequence at evenly spaced intervals of a frame acquisition interval.
16. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of triggers comprises at least three triggers.
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January 31, 2014
August 11, 2020
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